The spirit of Broadway and playwright-composer Jonathan Larson filled Popejoy Hall Tuesday night in the opening night performance of "Rent," the long-running story of contemporary Bohemians facing AIDS and drug addiction in New York's East Village. ABOVE: The first act's "Another Day" features Mimi (played by Julia Santana) and Roger (Christian Mena) in an angry duet.

Neil Patrick Harris owns the stage in fresh, innovative 'Rent'

We could gripe that it took so long for "Rent" to get to Albuquerque. We could dwell in the absence of playwright- composer Jonathan Larson, who died just days before the Off-Broadway opening and will never write another musical.

Or, we could smile at the thought that Albuquerque residents Allan and Nanette Larson raised a boy with a great talent, that he devoted himself to his art, that he finished this fresh, invigorating rock opera before he died.

We can thrill to the fact that "Rent" came here not for the usual two- to four-night stopover, but for a full six days.

And most of all, we can revel in the luck that because Neil Patrick Harris grew up in Albuquerque, he rejoined the tour for just these six days, and brought us what may be the finest performance of lead character Mark yet created.

Mark is the narrator of this ragtag group of New York bohemians (the entire musical is loosely based on Puccini's "La Boheme"), but he's far more than just an announcer: he's simultaneously an observer and the emotional core of seven friends: Roger, an HIV-positive musician; his love interest, Mimi, an addict with AIDS; Mark's ex-girlfriend Maureen, a promiscuous performance artist; Maureen's new lover, the lawyer Joanne; Tom Collins, a philosophy professor; and Angel, a drag queen with AIDS.

While the action whirls around Mark, who inhabits the center like the eye of a bass-heavy hurricane, Neil Patrick Harris is the heart of this exquisitely professional production. Any memories of TV children are wiped away as soon as he opens his mouth, literally setting the stage and immediately filling his character.

The stage, in fact, seems to be the perfect medium for Harris. He has a wonderful presence, and fully inhabits his character, always in the moment.

Glance over while the action concerns other characters; you'll see Mark, without a glimpse of Harris. He tosses off the play's jokes -- there are many, and they're very funny -- like he's flicking away lint, lightly and without undue emphasis.

Harris' voice may be the biggest welcome surprise. "Rent" is a musical that should not seem to be performed by theater majors; the Broadway cast featured very few proven actors, with more coming from garage bands than casting agencies. It would seem, then, that a man who, at 25, has already spent more than a decade in the business would be at a disadvantage. But Harris' voice is a clear, natural tenor. It sounds lovely but not trained, like the voice of a talented individual singing in the car.

His character's roommate, Roger, is the play's other focal point, and physically, Christian Mena is a great casting choice, with dark hair, a goatee and a sexy, physical presence. But while Harris' voice sounds natural and unrehearsed, Mena's has a musical-theater quality that would be perfect for any play but this one. Roger is a rock star, and one with a lot of anger, but Mena flares instead of smolders and his songs have such a full quality and precise diction that they seem far removed from the world of hard rock (although Mena actually fronts the Latin pop band !Maracujah!).  It's a small flaw, though, in an otherwise well-cast production.

As Mimi, Julie Santana is a tiny vixen, in full command of her sexual power but seemingly wasting away from the moment she steps onstage. In Act One's "Another Day," an enthralling, angry duet between Mimi and Roger, she simultaneously reflects Mimi's "No day but today" optimism and her youthful, sex-kittenish petulance.

One of the saving graces of "Rent" is the way that Larson examined his characters with a critical eye. When Mark sings of the injustices of poverty in the title song, it's with a twinkle in his eye; this is a suburban boy who has made a choice to be poor and could go home at any time. Likewise, Maureen (Leigh Hetherington) is a terribly self-absorbed manipulator whose performance art is just plain bad (and which, in one of the show's worst scenes, wears thin quickly).

Meanwhile, Roger seems to be taking a luxuriant bath in his pain. It's what makes these characters feel real, and what makes the relationships that much more meaningful.

If Mark is the play's core, Angel (Pierre Angelo Bayuga) is its heart -- and as a saintly drag queen, not exactly a theatrical stereotype. Bayuga's first words, as Angel reaches out to Collins after he's been mugged, reveal the voice of a cherub. In the drag scenes, Bayuga looks so good (a little like Marie Osmond, in fact) that it's almost distracting; it seems, at times, that Collins is with a woman.

But "Rent" doesn't focus on Angel's clothing (including a Mrs. Santa outfit with red-glitter lips and zebra stockings) for anything like shock value. This is a show that is not just racially diverse -- and it is, with lead characters who are white, Hispanic, black and Filipino -- but also sexually diverse. Its characters aren't experimenting; they're falling in love with souls, not genders.

It's a warm, embracing message, one that seemed to sink in with the sold-out audience.

And as the characters come together, fall in and out of love, get sick and die, and get sick and get well, they take us along for a ride set in stark realism.

Costumes seem taken from the local thrift store. The set consists of metal tables and chairs, a bit of scaffolding, a few doors. Lighting is raw, like a single spotlight casting a harsh orange glare or a lone bulb casting the singers in partial shadow. In the same way, the play is staged in a semi-real manner. Instead of tableaus, we get interaction, as characters in dialogue block one another from the audience's view.

"Rent" is a fresh, innovative rock opera, but it's one with its roots in the musical theater. Along with the spitting, screaming anger of the title song, the rap moments in "La Vie Boheme" -- a song that makes you want to jump onstage and dance -- and the Pat Benatar sound of "Out Tonight" come delicate harmonies and ballads so sad they leave you in tears.

The music is loud, but the sound is perfect. Band and voice never compete, and the volume never reaches a level of discomfort.

It's a brilliant piece of theater.

There may be a few flaws -- Larson died while the work was in its finishing stages -- but at its best, "Rent" reminds us what it's like to live absolutely and completely in the moment.

In a tradition that began on Broadway, the best seats - 31 in the first two rows - are sold the day of each show, two hours before curtain, at least symbolically going to people who can't afford full-price tickets. Elaine Sisneros, 16, and her 18-year-old brother Fabian (standing at the Popejoy ticket window) bought $20 tickets before Tuesday's opening. The line began to form at 10 a.m. for the 7:30 p.m. performance.